Family's Cat Shipped 600 Miles With Amazon Returns Found In CA

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Utah family is breathing a sigh of relief and reminding others to get their pets microchipped after their cat was accidentally shipped inside a box with Amazon returns and found nearly a week later — 600 miles away in Southern California.

On April 10, Carrie Stevens Clark couldn't find her cat, Galena. She searched every corner of her house, she wrote on Facebook, but Galena was nowhere to be found.

"She literally just vanished," Stevens Clark wrote.

Despite putting up flyers and posting callouts on social media, no one had seen Galena. Stevens Clark was "beyond devastated," she said.

"My family knows 'she’s my kitty,'" Stevens Clark wrote. "She’s helped me get through really tough stuff in life. I couldn’t imagine living life without her."

A week later, Galena's family received a call that changed everything, they said. Galena had been found.

"Her microchip was scanned, I was immediately notified via text and a vet called me to say they had Galena and she was in CALIFORNIA!!" Stevens Clark wrote.

Galena's family soon discovered the curious feline had jumped into a box filled with Amazon returns without anyone knowing. She was then mailed to a return center in Riverside County, the family told KSL-TV.

According to Stevens Clark, an Amazon worker named Brandy Hunter found Galena. The kitty had gone six days without food or water, but it appeared the side of the box she was in split open and had allowed her to breathe.

Stevens Clark and her husband jumped on a plane the next morning and flew to California. After an hour-and-a-half-long drive to the veterinarian's officer where Hunter had taken Galena, family and feline were reunited.

"Her bloodwork was completely normal! Despite being skinnier she is completely unharmed," Stevens Clark wrote. "We’re in awe of all the little and big miracles that have taken place!"

Stevens Clark said that without Galena's microchip and Hunter's kindness, there's no way the family would have found their cat. She also stressed that pet owners should "triple-check" their Amazon boxes before returning them.

"Brandy, a microchip and God’s grace are the reasons Galena survived," she wrote.